Your Cartier Creations FAQ

We invite you to:
- visit the Cartier boutique of your choice, taking care to bring the warranty certificate for your product;
- or to contact an adviser at out Client Relations Center at 1-800-Cartier (1-800-227-8437).
When you have entrusted your watch to us, a Cartier technician will examine it, will define the type of service that needs to be carried out and will send you an estimate and completion date. The service will be undertaken once you have accepted the estimate, subject to availability of the parts required for the repair.

The water-resistance of your watch is ensured by a system of seals. These seals are constantly placed under pressure and subjected to natural wear and tear. Regular checks of your watch's water-resistance make it possible to determine whether it is still adequate, and to have the seals replaced if necessary.
In normal wearing conditions and to guarantee optimal security, you are recommended to have the water-resistance seals replaced once every two years. (For quartz watches, this is approximatly the same length of time for battery replacement.) The Maintenance Service includes the replacement of all seals and also of the battery (for quartz watches). If the watch is worn when playing sports or when it is in frequent contact with water, you are recommended to have the seals checked once every year.
If your Cartier water-resistant watch shows condensation under the glass, we advise you to contact rapidly a Cartier boutique, an authorized dealer or a Cartier After-Sales Service so as to proceed to a Complete Service. It is essential to resolve this situation rapidly in order to prevent the humidity from damaging all the components of your watch.

We are surrounded by magnetic fields, the strength of which varies depending on our environment. If they are strong enough, they may affect the movement of your watch by disturbing its functioning. A magnetic field may cause a quartz watch to lose several seconds. However, as soon as it emerges from the magnetic field it will regain its normal functioning. Magnetism may disturb mechanical watches and affect their functioning by making the spring of the movement stick. You are therefore recommended to avoid magnetic fields on a permanent basis, or to neutralize them.

Magnetic fields are difficult to avoid because they are invisible. It is nevertheless important to know that they are mainly created by magnets, loudspeakers, cellphones, smartphones, magnetic closing systems for refrigerators or cupboards, and magnetic clasps for handbags. To determine whether your mechanical watch is magnetized, place it near a compass and observe whether the needles start to whirl around. If so, your watch is magnetized. In such cases we recommend that you take it to a Cartier boutique, where it will be placed in an inverted magnetic field so as to restore it to its normal working condition.

The movement of your watch needs to be maintained at regular intervals. Changes in the viscosity of the oil (resulting in the oil drying out after a certain time) may generate friction and thus affect the precision of the mechanism, causing it to run fast or slow or to stop completely.
If your watch is noticeably fast or slow, the movement may need to be serviced for this reason. We recommend you to have the movement of your watch checked once every five years by a Cartier-authorized After-Sales Service. If your watch has not been worn for several months, you may need to wear it for several days before it regains its accuracy.

Quartz watches work thanks to the energy supplied by a battery. Watches equipped with a mechanical movement work thanks to a spring which needs to be wound up so as to supply energy. Automatic (self-winding) mechanical watches also use the spring system, but the winding of the spring is carried out by the oscillating mass of the movement.

The movement of a mechanical watch is activated by a spring system which supplies the energy required for the watch to work.
- If your watch has manual winding, you need to turn the crown to wind up the spring.
- If your watch is equipped with an automatic mechanical movement, its spring is wound up thanks to the movements of your wrist, which cause an oscillation that supplies the energy required for the winding system.
If you are not particularly active or do not often wear your watch, the mechanism of your watch may not be wound up enough for it to work properly. Whether it is mechanical or automatic, your watch may be slightly fast or slow, depending on how you wear it.
If your watch is regularly fast or slow, a Cartier master watchmaker will carry out small adjustments to restore it to good working order. The mechanism of your watch may need a Complete Service in order to rediscover its original accuracy.
The energy of a quartz watch is supplied by a battery. Quartz watches have no balance, and the timekeeping element consists of a crystal of quartz. Whatever the watch's position, its accuracy will always be identical.

For the vast majority of watches, polishing makes it possible to remove or reduce scratching on gold or steel surfaces. Given that this operation involves the removal of a fine layer of metal, we recommend you not to have this service carried out more than:
- twice in the lifetime of a watch made of white gold
- three times in the lifetime of a watch made of yellow gold or steel
Check beforehand with our Cartier watchmakers that your model can be polished.

The care that we devote to the production of Cartier leather watch-straps and the tests that we carry out on them ensure that they are of the highest quality. In normal conditions of use, a Cartier leather strap enjoys an average lifespan of between 6 and 12 months. This varies according to the conditions, the regularity and the environment of its use. For example, contact with water or persperation could cause premature wear and tear of the strap.

The care that we devote to the production of Cartier rubber watch-straps and the tests that we carry out on them ensure that they are of the highest quality. In normal conditions of use, a Cartier rubber strap enjoys an average lifespan of 18 months. This varies according to the conditions, the regularity and the environment of its use. For example, a dense urban environment and intense exposure to sunlight may cause the premature aging of the strap.

It is not recommended to wear your watch during the night, since the friction and twisting of one's movements while sleeping lead to deterioration in the materials and cause faster wear and tear than during normal use.

All watches bought at Cartier boutiques or from Cartier-authorized dealers are accompanied by the Cartier International Guarantee (or by the Cartier Limited Warranty in the case of the U.S., Canada and Australia), and are guaranteed against any manufacturing defect. More than 24 months after the date of purchase, the labor involved in all repairs will be invoiced to you, together with the replacement of parts.
Please see the details of the Warranty.

All our watches have a lifetime warranty against any manufacturing defect (manufacturing defects generally appear during the two years following the introduction of a new model, and are only isolated cases). The "lifetime warranty" provided by the Maison cannot be interpreted as a total warranty for the product sold, its parts and the labor involved without limitation of duration.

Certain Cartier watches purchased in the 1970s were accompanied by a "Lifetime Warranty" including particular conditions and strictly reserved to those specific watches. In this case, Cartier respects the commitment made to its customers and graciously undertakes the maintenance of the mechanism of the watch concerned. This warranty does not cover the possible replacement of separate parts of the watch, which continue to be payable by the customer. In all cases concerned, the terms of the warranty do not apply to either metal bracelets or leather straps, since these are not mechanical parts. The warranty extends to the original owner and the proper warranty card must be presented when the watch is submitted for service.

As in the case of any mechanical object, regular maintenance is essential to ensure that your watch functions correctly. The battery and the water-resistance seals need to be replaced regularly, and our watchmakers recommend a Complete Service approximately once every five years. All this information is detailed in the Maintenance Guide provided with your watch at the time of purchase.

If your watch is water-resistant, you can wear it when swimming. It is advisable, however, to avoid deep-sea diving. Your watch is not designed to withstand pressure at considerable depths. Before any contact with water, ensure that the crown is well pushed in against the case of the watch, and do not activate the push-pieces underwater. After each swim, rinse your watch in fresh water.

Engraving is always possible, provided that there is a large enough surface available and no risk of damaging the creation concerned. This service is provided at our boutiques and also on this website, in the case of certain types of creation and model.
Our sales associates are available at our Cartier boutiques or at any authorized dealers. You may also contact our Client Relations Center at 1-800-Cartier (1-800-227-8437).

Watch bracelets are adjustable at Cartier boutiques or when purchasing watches on-line from the Cartier e-Boutique. For further information, we invite you to contact the Cartier boutique or authorized dealer of your choice, or our Client Relations Center. You will also find a guide to sizes on our website, under the heading "Sizing Guides".

The component parts that have been replaced required a high-precision production process, and the repair of your watch required numerous hours of work by a skilled master watchmaker. This explains the price of the service.

Since Cartier is actively involved in the fight against counterfeits, we do not return used parts. However, if you request this on the day of the repair, we may very exceptionally return the parts to you. This will not however be possible in the case of the metal bracelet, if you wish to benefit from an exchange arrangement.

The natural aging process affecting your watch bracelet does not allow us to carry out a repair. In fact, when a damaged link is not a movable link, it cannot be replaced, unless the entire bracelet is replaced with it. We therefore advise you to have your old bracelet taken back to the boutique and to exchange it against a new bracelet, which will enable you to wear your watch with all the satisfaction that you have the right to expect from Cartier

Yes, unless the bracelet is suffering from generalized wear and tear. It would not be right for us to carry out (and invoice) this repair when we know by experience that the new buckle will not hold if the rest of the bracelet is already in worn condition.

We would like to reassure you with regard to the service that has been performed. Any service carried out is covered by a one-year warranty. The terms of the intervention warranty are included in your invoice.
However, not even all the care and attention with which your watch has been treated and the numerous checks carried out on it can guarantee that your watch will function faultlessly. To prevent any possible malfunction, we recommend you to follow our maintenance tips and to have your watch serviced by Cartier at regular intervals.

A detailed examination of your watch undertaken by Cartier watchmakers has enabled them to determine that your watch cannot be authenticated by the Maison. It shows aesthetic and technical differences in relation to our creations. Furthermore, it may not have an engraved individual number, as is the case for all our creations, or the appropriate number for the model. This individual number enables us to ensure the traceability of a watch from the moment of its production and on the occasion of all other operations on it undertaken by our workshops.